CMH Gourmand – Eating in Columbus & Ohio

First before you panic or you worry that I have panicked or become distraught, let me assure you that the original O’Betty’s is still open. I found out about the demise of the “other” O’Betty’s from John, a former manager that I worked with when I was behind the counter.

I mourn the passing with a tinge of regret. During the dog days of August of 2011, O’Betty’s owner Bob Satmary and I were almost partners in opening a second location at a different site in Athens. That did not work out (actually a lot of things did not work out so well for me in August of 2011) but I was happy to see the second location open on a different spot and to see what O’Betty’s could do with a little more space for customers and a lot more room in the kitchen. In the end the place was moderately successful but not really worth the extra work it entailed according to Bob. The other, other Betty’s (the CMH Gourmand version) fell into the file of my many “What if’s” for 2011.

On the bright side he may have more free time now for another hot dog related project (perhaps with a new investor) and the 10th anniversary of the original O’Betty’s is this summer.

I guess another good / bad thing about the closing of O’Betty’s on Union is that I never got around to writing about it. I had attended the grand opening in January of 2012 as a VIP guest and had a great time that evening. I was also introduced to my Doppelganger (by report I have several) at the VIP party. This guy was described to me as the Athens version of me but with his passions directed towards music – instead food. When we met, for a brief moment we were concerned that combined our powers might either destroy or better the world. Fortunately, the world did not explode.

For the historical archives, I have included some photos below of the place you missed eating at. Do keep the original O’Betty’s on your Ohio eating bucket list, it is the best Hot Doggery this side of the Mississippi. I will miss the second O’Betty’s because on my tours of Athens the route was typically: O’Betty’s, Casa Nueva, O’Betty’s on Union, Jackie O’s, one other place at random and them coin flip of O’Betty’s Uptown or Downtown. On three occasions I was in a party which made three combined visits to both locations for a total of three to five hot dogs.

This is the Doppelganger. For the safety of the world, we could not allow our photos to be taken together or allow ourselves to be in the same GPS coordinates more than a few minutes.

The larger space allowed Bob and Company to do more things with the decor, maintaining the Burlesque theme of course.

More space meant a larger menu selection as well and a Sunday Brunch (during a brief collaboration with Jana’s)